Dallas Brown can still see the bullets coming for him 50 years later, smacking into the dirt at his feet as north Vietnamese soldiers fired on his platoon during an ambush deep in the jungle.

Minutes later, as the deadly firefight wound down, Brown and his fellow soldiers in the 101st Airborne would be immortalized.

Images - Vietnam - War - Brown - Grimaces

In one of the most searing images of the Vietnam War, Brown grimaces as he lies on the ground with a back injury.

Not far away, a platoon sergeant raises his arms to the heavens, seemingly seeking divine help.

Page - New - York - Times - Image

Landing on the front page of The New York Times, the black and white image by Associated Press freelancer Art Greenspon gave Americans back home an unflinching look at the conditions soldiers endured in what would become the war's deadliest year.

Captured on April 1, 1968, it was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and appeared prominently in Ken Burns' recent Vietnam War documentary.

Americans - Half-century - Moment - Day - Southeast

But for the young Americans who have decided to talk about it a half-century later, it was merely a moment in another sweltering day in a Southeast Asian jungle with well-hidden enemies all around.

Some of them have spent years putting the experience in perspective.

Picture - Anything - Tim - Wintenburg - Photo

'When I look at that picture now, I say, 'If I can survive that, I can survive anything,'' said Tim Wintenburg, who in the photo helps carry a wounded soldier over brush hacked away to create a helicopter landing zone.

Sgt. Maj. Watson Baldwin has his arms raised to guide in a helicopter that would take away the wounded men, including one shot in the leg by the Vietnamese soldier who was firing at Brown.

Baldwin - Fort - Campbell - Officials - Soldiers

Baldwin died in 2005, according to Fort Campbell officials who recently tracked down soldiers in the photo.

Brown, who lives near Nashville, and Wintenburg, of Indianapolis, met with an Associated...